GPS based vehicle warning and location system

ABSTRACT

An emergency vehicle alert system for providing information as to a location of an emergency vehicle to a motor vehicle, includes a first GPS receiving unit that is provided on the emergency vehicle and that receives GPS signals from GPS satellites and that determines emergency vehicle location information of the emergency vehicle. The system also includes a radio-wave transmitter unit that is provided on the emergency vehicle and that transmits the emergency vehicle location information by way of an emergency vehicle location signal. The system further includes a second GPS receiving unit that is provided on the motor vehicle and that receives GPS signals from GPS satellites and that determines vehicle location information of the motor vehicle. The system also includes a radio-wave receiver unit that is provided on the motor vehicle and that receives the emergency location signal output by the radio-wave transmitter unit of the emergency vehicle. The system further includes a map display that is provided on the motor vehicle and that displays, on a map that includes a plurality of street locations, a current location of the motor vehicle a current location of the emergency vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providingGPS based vehicle warning and location information to a vehicleoperator.

2. Description of the Related Art

Emergency vehicles need to travel quickly and safely through traffic inorder to get to a destination. Conventional emergency vehicles useeither sirens or emergency lights, or both, in order to get to thedestination quickly and safely. It is often the case that a driver whois on the same road or a nearby road as the emergency vehicle is notmade aware of the emergency vehicle's presence. This may be the casewhen the driver has poor hearing, is listening to the car radio, is onhis or her car phone, etc. When this occurs, it may result in adangerous situation when the emergency vehicle approaches the unawaredriver, which may result in the driver causing an accident with theemergency vehicle or with another nearby vehicle on the road.

Also, when an emergency vehicle comes to an intersection, it isimportant that all vehicles approaching the intersection in differentdirections are made aware of the approaching emergency vehicle. Again,some drivers may not be aware of the sirens and emergency lights of theemergency vehicle, and this may result in an accident occurring with theemergency vehicle and/or other vehicles at or near the intersection.

There have been some solutions proposed to address this problem. Onesolution has been to use optical detectors at an intersection thatdetect light signals emitted from an approaching emergency vehicle,whereby the optical detectors would manipulate the traffic signal foroncoming traffic. One drawback to this solution is the lack of warningwhen an emergency vehicle is coming from behind a motor vehicle.

Another solution has been to use a radar detector, which would detect asignal transmitted from an emergency vehicle. One drawing to thissolution is that false triggering of the radar may result in a driverturning off the radar detector out of frustration. Furthermore, thelocation and distance of the emergency vehicle would not be madeavailable to the driver with this solution.

Yet another solution is to have the emergency vehicle transmit a radiofrequency (RF) signal at a predetermined frequency or frequency range.In this case, each motor vehicle would be equipped with an RF receiverwhich would receive the RF signal output by the emergency vehicle whenthe emergency vehicle is traveling to its destination. A furtherenhancement to this solution would be to utilize GPS in order to provideinformation as to the location of the emergency vehicle relative to themotor vehicle, whereby that information would be used by amicrocontroller in order to determine the location of the emergencyvehicle with respect to the driver's vehicle. The emergency vehicle'slocation would be displayed at the motor vehicle by way of one of fourindicator lamps that are in the driver's view area (e.g., on thedashboard). Actuation of a first lamp would indicate that the emergencyvehicle was somewhere ahead of the driver's vehicle, actuation of asecond lamp would indicate that the emergency vehicle was somewhere tothe left of the driver's vehicle, actuation of a third lamp wouldindicate that the emergency vehicle was somewhere to the right of thedriver's vehicle, and actuation of a fourth lamp would indicate that theemergency vehicle was somewhere behind the driver's vehicle.

The above solution using both GPS signals and an RF transmitter and RFreceiver is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,339,382, issued to DonaldArbinger et al., which is incorporated in its entirety herein byreference. However, even with the Arbinger et al. solution, a driver isnot provided precise information as to the exact location of theemergency vehicle, and so the driver may not choose the best streets totravel through in order to evade the emergency vehicle and to evade thesnarled traffic that typically occurs on streets that the emergencyvehicle travels on.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an emergencyvehicle alert system for providing information as to a location of anemergency vehicle to a motor vehicle. The system includes a first GPSreceiving unit that is provided on said emergency vehicle and that isconfigured to receive at least three different GPS signals from at leastdifferent GPS satellites and to determine emergency vehicle locationinformation of said emergency vehicle as a result thereof. The systemalso includes a radio-wave transmitter unit that is provided on saidemergency vehicle and that is configured to transmit said emergencyvehicle location information by way of an emergency vehicle locationsignal that includes said emergency vehicle location information. Thesystem further includes a second GPS receiving unit that is provided onsaid motor vehicle and that is configured to receive at least threedifferent GPS signals from at least three different GPS satellites andto determine vehicle location information of said motor vehicle as aresult thereof. The system still further includes a radio-wave receiverunit that is provided on said motor vehicle and that is configured toreceive the emergency location signal output by said radio-wavetransmitter unit of said emergency vehicle. The system also includes amap display that is provided on said motor vehicle and that isconfigured to display, on a map that includes a plurality of streetlocations provided thereon, a current location of said motor vehicle asprovided by the vehicle location information, and the map displayconfigured to display, on the map, a current location of said emergencyvehicle as provided by the emergency vehicle location informationobtained from the emergency vehicle location signal received by saidradio-wave receiver unit when said radio-wave receiver unit is inradio-wave communication range with respect to said radio-wavetransmitter unit.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided anemergency vehicle that provides a warning indication to other vehicles.The emergency vehicle includes a GPS receiving unit that is configuredto receive at least three different GPS signals from at least differentGPS satellites and to determine emergency vehicle location informationof said emergency vehicle as a result thereof. The emergency vehiclealso includes a radio-wave transmitter unit that is configured totransmit said emergency vehicle location information by way of anemergency vehicle location signal that includes said emergency vehiclelocation information. The emergency vehicle further includes aradio-wave receiving unit that is configured to receive radio-wavesignals from at least one other emergency vehicle that includeinformation as to a current location of the at least one other emergencyvehicle. The emergency vehicle still further includes a controller thatis configured to determine a latitude and longitude position of saidemergency vehicle based on the at least three different GPS signals, andto determine a latitude and longitude position of said at least oneother emergency vehicle based on the received radio-wave signals. Theemergency vehicle also includes a map display that is configured todisplay, on a map that includes a plurality of street locations providedthereon, a current location of said emergency vehicle and said at leastone other emergency vehicle.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided anemergency vehicle alert system that is provided on a motor vehicle. Thesystem includes a GPS receiving unit that is configured to receive atleast three different GPS signals from at least different GPS satellitesand to determine vehicle location information of said motor vehicle as aresult thereof. The system also includes a radio-wave receiver unit thatis configured to receive an emergency vehicle location signal output byan emergency vehicle. The system further includes a map display that isconfigured to display, on a map that includes a plurality of streetlocations provided thereon, a current location of said motor vehicle asprovided by the vehicle location information as determined by said GPSreceiving unit, and the map display configured to display, on the map, acurrent location of said emergency vehicle as obtained from theemergency vehicle location signal received by said radio-wave receiverunit when said radio-wave receiver unit is in radio-wave communicationrange with respect to said emergency vehicle.

According still yet another aspect of the invention, there is providedan emergency vehicle alert method that provides information as to alocation of an emergency vehicle to a motor vehicle. the method includesreceiving, by said emergency vehicle, at least three different GPSsignals from at least different GPS satellites, and determiningemergency vehicle location information of said emergency vehicle as aresult thereof. The method also includes transmitting, by said emergencyvehicle, said emergency vehicle location information by way of anemergency vehicle location signal. The method further includesreceiving, by said motor vehicle, at least three different GPS signalsfrom at least three different GPS satellites, and determining vehiclelocation information of said motor vehicle as a result thereof. Themethod still further includes receiving, when the motor vehicle iswithin a predetermined distance of said emergency vehicle, the emergencylocation signal output by said emergency vehicle. The method alsoincludes displaying, on a map that includes a plurality of streetlocations provided thereon, a) a current location of said motor vehicleas provided by the vehicle location information, and b) a currentlocation of said emergency vehicle as obtained from said emergencyvehicle location signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments of the present invention will become more fully apparentfrom the following detailed description when read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings with like reference numerals indicatingcorresponding parts throughout, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing elements utilized in an emergency vehicle inaccordance with a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing elements utilized in a motor vehicle inaccordance with the first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a map display that may be provided to adriver of a motor vehicle, in accordance with the first embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a map display that may be provided to adriver of a motor vehicle, in accordance with a second embodiment of theinvention; and

FIG. 5 is a frequency plot of a notch filter that is utilized in anemergency vehicle, in accordance with a fourth embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Different embodiments of the invention will be explained below withreference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an emergency vehicle unit 10 of an emergencyvehicle alert system is shown. The emergency vehicle alert systemincludes one or more emergency vehicle units, one or more motorvehicles, and a plurality of global positioning system (GPS) satellites100 that each output GPS signals 14. The emergency vehicle unit 10,which may be a fire truck, a school bus, or a police car, for example,includes an emergency GPS antenna 16, an emergency GPS receiver 18, acontroller 19, an RF transmitter 20, an emergency RF antenna 22, and anemergency power source 24. The emergency power source 24 supplieselectrical power to the electronic components in the emergency vehicleunit 10.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the motor vehicle unit 12 includes a vehicleGPS antenna 28, a vehicle GPS receiver 30, a vehicle RF antenna 32, avehicle RF receiver 34, a controller 36, a map display 38, and a vehiclepower source 40. The vehicle power source 40 supplies electrical powerto the electrical components in the motor vehicle unit 12.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the plurality of GPS satellites 100 outputrespective GPS signals 14, whereby the emergency GPS antenna 16 receivesat least three GPS signals 14 from the plurality of GPS satellites 100.The at least three GPS signals 14 are input to the emergency GPSreceiver 18. The emergency GPS receiver 18 triangulates the plurality ofGPS signals 14 into an emergency location signal string 15 which isdescribed by a particular longitude and latitude. The emergency locationsignal string 15 is input to the controller 19. The controller 19provides output to the RF transmitter 20, whereby that output istransmitted through the emergency RF antenna 22. The RF transmitter 20is preferably a low powered radio transmitter, which has a specific,exclusive bandwidth and that covers an area of approximately ½ mile inradius. The bandwidth exclusivity is desirable so that other RF signalsdo not interfere with the emergency vehicle's RF transmission, and withthe reception of that signal by one or more motor vehicle units.

The controller 19 provides a switch function for the emergency vehicle12, whereby when a sensor input signal 23 indicates that a warningsignal is to be output, the controller 19 passes the location signalstring 15 received from the GPS receiver 18 to the RF transmitter 20.One sensor input signal may be when a school bus activates its yellow orred lights, whereby only at those times will warning signals be outputfrom the school bus. Another sensor input signal may be when a policecar is traveling faster than a predetermined rate of speed (e.g., >65miles per hour) to catch a suspected criminal. Another input to thecontroller 19 is an override signal 24, which is used so as todeactivate the emergency warning system even when the sensor inputsignal 23 is in an active state. The override signal 24 may be used, forexample, when a police vehicle is on a car chase and does not want thecurrent location of the police vehicle to be known to other nearbyvehicles, since one of those nearby vehicles may very well be thevehicle of a suspected criminal that is being chased by the policevehicle.

Referring now to FIG. 2, each motor vehicle unit 12 that is within rangeof the emergency vehicle transmission will receive the emergencylocation signal string 15 through the vehicle RF antenna 32. The RFreceiver 34 takes the analog signal from the vehicle RF antenna 32, andtransforms it back into its original digital data string, which isprovided to the controller 36. The controller 36 utilizes thatinformation to determine the precise latitude and longitude of theemergency vehicle unit 10, in a manner known to those skilled in theart.

The vehicle GPS antenna 28 receives at least three GPS signals 14 fromthe plurality of GPS satellites 100 that are within its line of sight.The at least three different GPS signals 14 are input to the vehicle GPSreceiver 30, by way of the GPS antenna 28. The vehicle GPS receiver 30outputs a motor vehicle location signal string 42, which is received bythe controller 36. The controller 36 uses that information to determinethe precise latitude and longitude of the motor vehicle unit 12, in amanner known to those skilled in the art.

FIG. 3 shows a map display 300 that is displayed on the warning display38 according to a first embodiment of the invention, whereby the mapdisplay 300 provides, to a driver of the motor vehicle unit 12, both theprecise position of the emergency vehicle unit 10 and the preciseposition of the motor vehicle unit 12. The map display is a street mapshowing the street that the motor vehicle unit 12 is currently located,as well as the surrounding streets within a particular range. Forexample, the map display 300 may include a map of streets that arewithin a 3 mile radius of a point from where the motor vehicle unit 12is currently located. The map display 300 preferably has a feature inwhich it can be zoomed in or zoomed out by operator control, so that thedriver can get a better perspective as to the location of his/her motorvehicle unit 12 and the emergency vehicle unit 10, with respect to aparticular region.

FIG. 4 shows a map display 400 that is displayed on the warning display38 according to a second embodiment of the invention, whereby allelements except for the map display are the same as those described withrespect to the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, the mapdisplay 400 shows a current location 410 of the emergency vehicle unit10, as well as the most previous location or locations 420 of theemergency vehicle unit 10. With that information, the driver of themotor vehicle unit 12 can determine a direction in which the emergencyvehicle unit 10 is heading, so that the driver of the motor vehicle unit12 can decide on a driving path in order to not get in the way of thedriving path of the emergency vehicle unit 10. The current location 410may be shown with a particular icon or color on the map display 400, inorder to easily distinguish it from the previous locations 420 that arealso shown on the map display 400. In FIG. 4, the previous locations 420are shown as dashed vehicle icons.

In either the first or second embodiments, the map display 300, 400 ispreferably a liquid crystal display (LCD), but other ways of displayingthe location of the emergency vehicle unit 10 and the motor vehicle unit12 on a road/street map may be utilized (e.g., cathode ray tubedisplay), while remaining within the scope of the invention as describedherein.

In a preferred implementation of the first and second embodiments, theemergency GPS antenna 16 is mounted permanently on all police, fire,ambulance, school buses and other types of emergency/public safetyequipment. The elements shown in FIG. 1 will preferably be runningconstantly when the emergency vehicle unit 10 is operating, and willhave a start up and continuous diagnostic cycle to insure properoperation. For example, the emergency vehicle unit 10 will beginbroadcasting RF signals when flashing lights are initiated in theemergency vehicle unit 10.

In a third embodiment of the invention, the emergency location signalstring 15 is output from one or more stationary locations that do notcorrespond to motor vehicles. For example, in the morning and in theafternoon when school children are walking to or from a school, a schoolcrosswalk will have an RF transmitter that broadcasts its preciselatitude and longitude information, so that motor vehicles can stayclear of this zone or approach the zone with caution while children arewalking on the street to and from the school. A similar feature can beutilized at a railroad crossing, and at locations (e.g., fire stations)where emergency vehicles enter traffic from their station locations.

In a fourth embodiment, which is a variation of the first and secondembodiments, the precise latitude and longitude of the emergency vehicleunit 12 will be constantly broadcast in a ½ mile radius, except in thecase of police vehicles or other types of emergency vehicles that mayhave to drive at high rates of speed, in which they will utilize a speedsensor that will automatically increase the radio transmission signalstrength cover a broader area (e.g., 1 mile radius), as needed, in orderto give motorists in their vicinity sufficient advance notice of theirapproach. FIG. 1 shows a dashed line 27 that corresponds to a speedsignal that is used to control the output power of the emergency RFtransmitter 20. The speed signal 27 is shown as a dashed line since itis not a part of the first embodiment, and is only used in the fourthembodiment. In cases where a police vehicle does not want his or hercurrent position know, such as in the case when the police vehicle ischasing a bank robber's getaway vehicle, the police vehicle has themeans to deactivate the emergency warning RF broadcast, by way of theoverride signal 24, so that the bank robber will not know the currentlocation of the police vehicle or vehicles that are trying to catch thebank robber.

Each motor vehicle unit 12 in any of the embodiments described above hasa map display, which is preferably an LCD screen that is provided on adashboard of the motor vehicle unit 12. The LCD screen is preferablycapable of mapping the entire continental United States, for a vehicleto be sold and used in the United States. That way, when the vehicle ismoved from one state to another, no changes need to be made in order toutilize the emergency vehicle warning and location system and method inthe other state. Of course, for other regions, such as Europe, acorresponding map having all street locations in Europe is installed inthe motor vehicle unit 12 for use in Europe. Preferably, the street/roadmaps are updated very two years, in order to reflect the current roadand street layout for a particular area.

The present invention is also useful when two or more emergencyvehicles, such as two police vehicles, are in the same area, such aswhen they are approaching the same intersection from differentdirections. In that case, using the system and method as describedabove, each police vehicle will be provided with current positioning ofthe other police vehicle, and so a potential collision can be greatlyavoided. Police cars in this instance will include all of the featuresshown in FIG. 1, as well as the RF Antenna 32 and the Map Display 38 asshown in FIG. 2 (in order to receive warning signals from other nearbyemergency vehicles).

Furthermore, the emergency vehicle will utilize a notch filter havingoutput signal versus frequency characteristics 500 as shown in FIG. 5.The notch filter will be provided along a communications path betweenthe RF antenna 32 and the RF receiver 34 of FIG. 2, whereby the notchfilter will notch out any RF transmissions made by the emergencyvehicle's own emergency warning system (centered at frequency f1 with anotch bandwidth of d), while at the same time passing through emergencysignals from other emergency vehicles that output RF warning signals atfrequencies other than the one used by the emergency vehicle.

In a preferred implementation, the warning display 38 of the differentembodiments described above will normally be blank, and will activatewhen emergency signals are detected. The system and method of thedifferent embodiments also may include an audio output, which willprovide synthesized speech that audibly notifies a driver where theemergency vehicle is currently located and its direction of movement.The synthesized speech is preferably output through the radio speakersof the motor vehicle unit 12, or by separate speakers in an alternativeconfiguration. The GPS feature described above may incorporatenavigational features as are currently available on many models ofprivate and business vehicles, whereby those features wouldautomatically cancel whenever emergency vehicles are detected.

The frequency band allocated for the emergency vehicle RF transmissionsis preferably large enough in order to accommodate several differentemergency vehicles operating close to each other. For example, if theallocated frequency band is from 3.100 to 3.200 MHz, then 100 kHz offrequency bandwidth is available. If each emergency vehicle is allocateda 5 kHz emergency signal bandwidth (including guard band), then up to 20emergency vehicles can operate in close proximity to each other, withoutcausing any problems with respect to detection at a motor vehicle unit12 of the respective emergency signals output by these 20 emergencyvehicles. As one example, the particular frequency range utilized by anemergency vehicle may be randomly selected within the operatingfrequency band, in order to lessen the chance that two emergencyvehicles are operating in the exact same frequency range and areoperating very close to each other. Also, by using the notch filterhaving the input/output characteristics 500 as shown in FIG. 5, anemergency vehicle can output its own emergency signal while at the sametime receive emergency signals from other emergency vehicles (that areused to map the locations of those other emergency vehicles on a mapdisplay on a dashboard of the emergency vehicle).

Possible uses of the present invention are provided below. Emergencyoperators or patrolmen on duty are alerted to a location where they needassistance, or, in the case of patrolmen, they may have to stop atraffic violator. When their emergency vehicle warning systems areactivated (e.g., by turning on the warning lights on a police vehicle),their location is broadcast within a prescribed area. School bus driversactivate their yellow and then red lights to take on children or letthem off at school or at a bus stop near the children‘s’ homes. Firehouses, police stations, etc., where vehicles frequently have to entertraffic, will have a permanently mounted transmitter to alter motoristsof traffic entering the roadway, so that the motorists can takeappropriate action. The permanently mounted transmitter at a firestation may be activated by opening the garage doors of the firestation, or by some other device that allows for manual operation of theRF emergency transmitter.

One possible scenario in which the present invention is useful isdescribed below. Fire station number 109 receives a call of a fire at1010. Locust Street, whereby one fire truck and one emergency medicaltechnician (EMT) team are needed. As the doors of the firehouse areopened, the permanently mounted transmitter in the street is activated.Motorists in the vicinity of the fire station have their LCD screenactivated with a map showing their location and the location of theemergency transmitter. A synthesized voice will warn each motorist that“Emergency vehicle entering roadway, ¼ mile ahead”. A motorist will lookat the map on his or her LCD screen, and will see that the location ofthe fire station is two blocks to his or her right. Based on thisinformation, the motorist will avoid the road which the fire station islocated on.

As the emergency vehicles enter traffic, they will begin broadcastingtheir locations. Motorists will be informed by their systems “Emergencytraffic ahead, ⅛ mile moving towards you”. Again, this may be two blocksto a motorists' right, but the system will show both the motorist'sprogress and the path of the emergency vehicles. If the emergencyvehicles turn onto the same street as a motorist, this will be shown onthat motorist's LCD screen, and a synthesized voice will say “Emergencytraffic ahead, on the right”. If a patrolman has a vehicle stopped andis issuing a ticket to the stopped vehicle, when a driver gets withinrange of the patrolman's vehicle, the driver will receive a message thatstates “Emergency vehicle ahead, stationary.” Again, by looking at theLCD screen and/or by listening to the audible warnings provided in thedriver's compartment, the driver will know where to look for thepatrolman in order to avoid an accident.

In case of school buses, when the driver starts the yellow lightsequence, the transmitter begins broadcasting a signal with itslocation, direction and an additional radio code that identifies thetransmitter as a school bus. A driver would hear “School bus ahead, ¼mile”, and the driver's map display would show both the bus location andthe driver's location, so that the driver can be aware of the situation.

In the case where transmitters are located at stationary locations, suchas timed crossings, a driver would hear “School zone ahead, ¼ mile”, andthe driver can take appropriate action to slow down.

While different embodiments have been described herein, modification ofthe described embodiments may become apparent- to those of ordinaryskill in the art, following the teachings of the invention, withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in theappended claims. For example, the method and system according to theinvention is applicable to a completely digital communication system,whereby no analog to digital conversion of information receivedover-the-air would be required in that instance. Also, other frequencybands for transmitting information over-the-air in a limited range,beyond the one described above that uses the radio frequency range, maybe utilized (e.g., infrared), while remaining within the scope of theinvention.

1. An emergency vehicle alert system for providing information as to alocation of an emergency vehicle to a motor vehicle, the systemcomprising: a first GPS receiving unit that is provided on the emergencyvehicle and that is configured to receive GPS signals and to determineemergency vehicle location information of the emergency vehicle as aresult thereof; a transmitter unit that is provided on the emergencyvehicle and that is configured to transmit the emergency vehiclelocation information by way of an emergency vehicle location signal thatincludes the emergency vehicle location information; a second GPSreceiving unit that is provided on the motor vehicle and that isconfigured to receive GPS signals and to determine vehicle locationinformation of the motor vehicle as a result thereof; a receiver unitthat is provided on the motor vehicle and that is configured to receivethe emergency location signal output by the transmitter unit of theemergency vehicle; and a map display that is provided on the motorvehicle and that is configured to display, on a map, a current locationof the motor vehicle as provided by the vehicle location information,and that is configured to display, on the map, a current location of theemergency vehicle as provided by the emergency vehicle locationinformation obtained from the emergency vehicle location signal receivedby the receiver unit when the receiver unit is in communication rangewith respect to the transmitter unit.
 2. The emergency vehicle alertsystem according to claim 1, wherein the emergency vehicle is one of apolice vehicle, a fire station vehicle, and a school bus.
 3. Theemergency vehicle alert system according to claim 1, further comprising:an audible warning unit that is configured to output an audible alarmwithin a passenger compartment of the motor vehicle when the emergencyvehicle location signal is received by the receiver unit.
 4. Theemergency vehicle alert system according to claim 3, wherein the audiblewarning unit is configured to output computer-generated speech thatprovides information with respect to a particular street location andmoving direction of emergency vehicle with respect to the motor vehicle.5. An emergency vehicle alert system for a first emergency vehicle and asecond emergency vehicle comprising: in the first emergency vehicle: aGPS receiving unit that is configured to receive GPS signals and todetermine emergency vehicle location information of the first emergencyvehicle as a result thereof; a transmitter unit that is configured totransmit the emergency vehicle location information by way of anemergency vehicle location signal that includes the emergency vehiclelocation information; a receiving unit that is configured to receive asignal from the second emergency vehicle that include information as toa current location of the second emergency vehicle; a controller that isconfigured to determine a latitude and longitude position of the firstemergency vehicle based on the GPS signals, and to determine a latitudeand longitude position of the second emergency vehicle based on thereceived signal output from the second emergency vehicle; and a mapdisplay that is provided on the first emergency vehicle and that isconfigured to display, on a map, a current location of the firstemergency vehicle and the second emergency vehicle; and in the secondemergency vehicle: a transmitter unit that is configured to transmitsecond emergency vehicle location information of the second emergencyvehicle by way of a second emergency vehicle location signal thatincludes the second emergency vehicle location information.
 6. Theemergency vehicle alert system according to claim 5, wherein the firstemergency vehicle is one of a police vehicle, a fire station vehicle,and a school bus.
 7. The emergency vehicle alert system according toclaim 5, further comprising: an audible warning unit that is configuredto output an audible alarm within a passenger compartment of the firstemergency vehicle when the signal output by the second emergency vehicleis received by the first emergency vehicle.
 8. The emergency vehiclealert system according to claim 7, wherein the audible warning unit isconfigured to output computer-generated speech that provides informationwith respect to a particular street location and moving direction of thesecond emergency vehicle with respect to the first emergency vehicle. 9.An emergency vehicle alert system for a motor vehicle and an emergencyvehicle, the system comprising: in the motor vehicle: a GPS receivingunit that is configured to receive GPS signals and to determine vehiclelocation information of the motor vehicle as a result thereof a receiverunit that is configured to receive an emergency vehicle location signaloutput by an emergency vehicle; and a map display that is provided onthe motor vehicle and that is configured to display, on a map, a currentlocation of the motor vehicle as provided by the vehicle locationinformation as determined by the GPS receiving unit, and that isconfigured to display, on the map, a current location of the emergencyvehicle as obtained from the emergency vehicle location signal receivedby the receiver unit when the receiver unit is in communication rangewith respect to the emergency vehicle; and in the emergency vehicle: atransmitter unit configured to transmit the emergency vehicle locationsignal based on location information received by the emergency vehicle.10. The emergency vehicle alert system according to claim 9, wherein theemergency vehicle is one of a police vehicle, a fire station vehicle,and a school bus.
 11. The emergency vehicle alert system according toclaim 9, further comprising: an audible warning unit that is configuredto output an audible alarm within a passenger compartment of the motorvehicle when the emergency vehicle location signal is received by thereceiver unit.
 12. The emergency vehicle alert system according to claim9, wherein the audible warning unit is configured to outputcomputer-generated speech that provides information with respect to aparticular street location and moving direction of the emergency vehiclewith respect to the motor vehicle.
 13. An emergency vehicle alert systemfor providing information as to a location of an emergency vehicle to amotor vehicle, the system comprising: a first GPS receiver unit that isprovided on the emergency vehicle and that is configured to receive GPSsignals and to determine emergency vehicle location information of theemergency vehicle as a result thereof; a transmitter unit that isprovided on the emergency vehicle and that is configured to transmit theemergency vehicle location information by way of an emergency vehiclelocation signal that includes the emergency vehicle locationinformation; a second GPS receiver unit that is provided on the motorvehicle and that is configured to receive GPS signals and to determinevehicle location information of the motor vehicle as a result thereof; areceiver unit that is provided on the motor vehicle and that isconfigured to receive the emergency vehicle location signal output bythe transmitter unit of the emergency vehicle; and a control unit,provided on the emergency vehicle, that is configured to cause thetransmitter unit to transmit the emergency vehicle location signal at asignal strength dependent on a speed of the emergency vehicle, whereinthe signal strength increases with an increase in the speed of theemergency vehicle.
 14. An emergency vehicle alert system for providinginformation as to a location of an emergency vehicle to another vehicle,the system comprising: a first UPS receiving unit that is provided onthe emergency vehicle and that is configured to receive GPS signals andto determine emergency vehicle location information of the emergencyvehicle; a transmitter unit that is provided on the emergency vehicleand that is configured to transmit the emergency vehicle locationinformation by way of an emergency vehicle location signal that includesthe emergency vehicle location information; a second UPS receiving unitthat is provided on the another vehicle and that is configured toreceive GPS signals from and to determine vehicle location informationof the another vehicle as a result thereof; a receiver unit that isprovided on the another vehicle and that is configured to receive theemergency location signal output by the transmitter unit of theemergency vehicle; and a map display that is provided on the anothervehicle and that is configured to display, on a map, a current locationof the another vehicle as provided by the vehicle location information,and that is configured to display, on the map, a current location of theemergency vehicle as provided by the emergency vehicle locationinformation obtained from the emergency vehicle location signal receivedby the receiver unit when the receiver unit is in communication rangewith respect to the transmitter unit.
 15. The emergency vehicle alertsystem according to claim 14, wherein a signal strength of the emergencyvehicle location information increases with an increase in the speed ofthe emergency vehicle, and decreases with a decrease in the speed of theemergency vehicle.